2018 Week 1: Build Journal

Another build season has finally arrived! After attending kickoff, Nemesis headed back to the RHS Tech Lab to discuss game analysis. We became familiar with the game field and rules for FIRST POWER UP. Both build and marketing students were able to participate in brainstorming, coming up with different ideas for all the subsystems. We focused on the ability to place power cubes on both the switch and the scale, which would be strategically beneficial. We also focused discussion on climbing. After hours of discussion we split into smaller groups to begin prototyping. The upperclassmen guided the underclassmen, turning sketches and ideas into working designs. Subteams worked on creating elevators to be able to reach the scale, fabricating a climber, and constructing multiple intake systems. This allowed all of the underclassmen to work hands-on with a variety of tools on their prototypes.

For our climber, we want a durable locking system to prevent us from falling. Subteams created a hook to grab onto the rung using pneumatics in ways that would be strong enough to support our robot. Although it isn’t as strong as we wished, we are still refining it in hopes to reach our goal.

The intake subteams have combined prototypes for the most efficient design. Using a combination of wheels and bands, we are able to pick up the power cube and securely hold it as the elevator rises, either to place the cube on the switch or the scale.

The elevator subteam has constructed two designs; a cascading and a scissor elevator. When tested to see which one is more effective, the cascading elevator proved to be the winner.

We decided on a 6 wheel west coast drive train with no drop center. The front and back will be curved up to allow out robot to drive onto the platform. In the upcoming week we will continue to improve and finalize these prototypes. We are all excited to see everything come together.